Disposing Of Storm Waste To Cost Taxpayers Millions Nearly 40,000 Tons Of Debris Remain Too Woody To Compost, Too Wet To Burn

It’ll cost taxpayers about $3 million to chip, grind and burn branches left over from November’s ice storm.

The debris is too wet to burn in Spokane’s trash incinerator and too woody to compost well at the regional compost center near Colbert, said Daman Taam, acting director of Spokane Regional Solid Waste System.

The owner of a West Plains composting center wants the county to truck the limbs to her business instead, saying she can save taxpayers money and turn the storm debris into fertile soil. But health officials say Ecocycle isn’t keeping up with the tree branches it had before the storm.

Landowners hauled mountains of tree limbs to Spokane city and county dumping stations when disposal was free in November and December.

Some was buried at the North Side landfill. But about 40,000 tons remain stacked at the trash incinerator and Valley transfer station, Taam said.

After more than a month, the wood is starting to decompose and give off heat. Some stacks have reached 155 degrees, and “spontaneous combustion is a concern,” said Taam.

If free dumping is offered again in March, as city and county officials propose, Taam expects to collect another 50,000 tons.

On Monday, Taam will ask the Spokane City Council to sign a contract for chipping the branches and hauling them to Kettle Falls, Wash., where they’ll be burned in Washington Water Power Co.’s power-producing incinerator.

The work would cost $33.90 a ton, including $18.50 to cover WWP’s cost for hauling and burning, and $15.40 for contractors to chip the limbs. WWP spokesman Pat Lynch said the money just covers the company’s costs. The incinerator, which burns sawmill scraps, normally isn’t used in February and March, when dams generate surplus energy.

“Under normal operating conditions we would not accept this type of material,” Lynch said, adding that every ton of tree limbs must be mixed with four tons of dry wood.

“It’s beyond what we consider fuel.”

Taam said local officials are asking the Federal Emergency Management Agency to cover 75 percent of the disposal cost.

If FEMA agrees, the state would chip in another 12.5 percent, and local garbage customers would pay the rest. Otherwise, the $3 million will come from a reserve account funded from local garbage bills.

In a meeting with county commissioners on Thursday, Taam said there’s no market for the debris, even after it’s chipped. Farmers don’t want it, and it’s not pretty enough to excite landscapers, he said.

Judy Boyd, who runs Ecocycle with her husband, Jim, is angry that the debris isn’t being hauled to their composting plant.

“I don’t know if we can handle the total volume, but I’m certain we can handle a portion of it, and do it for less than $33.90,” Boyd said.

“One would think that if even a portion of the $3 million could be funneled to a private enterprise that needs and wants the business, that would be a good thing to do.”

But health officials said Ecocyle isn’t keeping up with the yard debris it already has.

“They’ve got some wood material that’s been out there a year or so that hasn’t been processed,” said Steve Holderby, environmental resources supervisor at the Spokane Regional Health District.

Boyd said she doesn’t think any limbs have been stockpiled for a year. But she acknowledged that the company must wait until it has other organic materials to mix with the wood before it can be composted.

Boyd wouldn’t go into details about what kind of organic materials are needed. But in 1994, against the wishes of 54 Ecocyle neighbors, the county agreed to let the company haul in chicken manure, and rotten vegetables, fruit and other grocery store wastes.

Jim Boyd said he needed those materials to mix with growing piles of tree limbs on the 87-acre site.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color photo